Haarlem and Rafael

Early in the morning I went to Haarlem to see another exhibition, drawings by Rafael. Fascinating! The drawings and sketches, - studies most of them for the paintings and frescoes - are so minute and so detailed, it is just unbelievable. Every scrap of paper is used. And the drawings look very modern, especially the different expressions of the male faces. Such a contrast with medieval art when people were just types. In these drawings individual characters are represented. The women were more idealised, I think, with mostly a very serene expression, fit for the Madonna, who was in fact most often pictured when it came to women.

We – I and a friend who is an art historian - entered the museum as it opened, which was just as well because it became so busy that people were only allowed in piecemeal, one by one, when somebody else left, a slow process. By the time we left there was an enormous line winding its way through the museum and all the way to the front door. Without realizing it, we had spent two hours at the exhibition.

After "loitering" in front of showcases and glass framed drawings, It was very relaxing to sit down and have lunch in a cafe on the market square, with a view of the imposing Bavo church. Time for a chat and for – mild – gossip!

 

The rising sun reflected in the windows

The beauty of being in Haarlem just after 9 o' clock in the morning was that at that hour the city is still rather quiet with little traffic. The early morning light made everything look fresh and new. Fortunately I had brought my camera, so I tried to capture the atmosphere of the city, which with its many waterways and canals is very picturesque in places. For a change there was no wind, the air was clear and the sky cloudless.

After lunch I took a train to Amsterdam because of some errand and since I now had a camera with me, I went back to the museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder to take better pictures of the pipe organ and the interior of the church. Fortunately there was hardly anybody around, totally different from Saturday. Here are a few pictures of the interior and the small pipe organ.